So what do you suggest doing (that's not being done)??? - when VW is apparently covering all HPFP failures now even though some were out of warranty, there's a class action suit in TX, NHTSA is doing an engineering investigation and should issue a new IR shortly to VW, there's was a segment on a national radio car talk show on the failures, and I a national network news investigative reporter was made aware of the issue.
It seems that those that want "saved", want saved from the potential high cost of a catistrophic failure. That doesn't make news especially if the chance of a failure might only be 1:500 now. What makes news is several
serious injuries linked to a HPFP failure. I hope VW does what is right but how are you going to embarass / public shame VW by "going public" without being held liable for potential false accusations???
One needs to do as much due dilegence as possible prior to purchase (new or used) and then vote with your cash.
The NHTSA investigation and the lawsuit are solid and necessary starts. The existence of both is why I suggest that the time is right to amplify the pressure those tactics are already exerting on VW. NHTSA may yet save us by compelling a recall, but I don't believe we can count on them to back us up. We need to do the legwork to force NHTSA and VW into a corner where they have no choice but to do the right thing.
The lawsuit may work. Legal action may drag on for a very long time, and the outcome may not be what we hope for. Should we just sit around and do nothing while our expensive, defective cars, inch closer to the point of no return?
I don't believe we should. By working together we can increase the chances that we get the right outcome.
We'd need to start an organized campaign around this. The only leverage we have is pressure and shame, so everything would need to be directed toward spreading the word as far, wide, and loud as possible. I'm encouraged that some national news outlets have picked up the story. That means that there is potential for more hay to be made.
Yeah, we could
make a facebook page.
We could make a website with a catchy name and a whole variety of information. It could contain testimonials, information for the press, and of course a list of the remedies we seek.
We could work together with organizations concerned about these issues, such as the organization that got lemon laws passed in every state; concerned engineering outfits; green technology organizations; and consumer advocate organizations. I don't have a good sense about this, but I'm sure that with enough digging we could find some folks out there who care. Their organizations could add their voice to ours and help us in other ways.
We can lobby government agencies and elected officials. We can not only write letters and make phone calls to NHTSA, but we can also contact our elected officials. They can apply pressure to NHTSA and/or VW to do the right thing.
We can continue outreach to the press at all levels: national, regional, and local.
These are just some thoughts off the top of my head. There are probably other things we can do too.
We'd have to get the messaging right, and I think you are correct that it would need to be about safety. Nobody has been killed or injured yet, but we (and VW and the NHTSA) shouldn't wait until someone is.
I'm very new around here, but I am willing to pitch in.
I would be curious to know if anything like this has been tried before with VW, and what the outcome was.
Well, a Facebook page was successful with Sony DLP tv failures. Basically the optical blocks were failing. Sony started replacing the blocks under warranty. Then the replacements started going too. Sony then extended the warranty for this issue, but still had a faulty design that would continue to fail. The average cost the tv was $1200-1700 and the block was $1000 alone. A lot of boards turned up the heat, several online articles, and a couple of lawsuits, and the facebook page ended up being the solution. All this sound familiar?
Exactly. These tactics do work.